Edward's Unforgettable Death March

The rooster awakened the residents around the place and Albrecht right away stood up and found Baldur still putting a small towel at the forehead of the captain. It was enough to worry Albrecht that much and rushed for a thermometer.

" Baldur! is his body heat rising? here, let's put this in his armpit." Albrecht worrisomely stated.

Then Albrecht did it twice and thrice, then laughed.

"Why ... what is that look for?" Baldur quizzically looked at his elder brother.

" Haha! dad's body heat is now 36.5, but you still put that small towel on his forehead. Come on brother, go there in the next bed and sleep."

Slowly Baldur motioned to the opposite bed and lie down blankly as he placed his arms at the back of his head. But the eldest brother followed him and removed his hands and replaced a pillow. Baldur did nothing but smiled.

" Thanks." Baldur seriously complimented.

" Since young you always do that mannerism whenever you sleep that's why your hands numbed most often, hmm." Albrecht's sermon yet Baldur has unconsciously opened his mouth, snored and deeply fell asleep.

" Oh my...brother, you're as tired as dad. Feel free to dream now, go...go...dream...." He jokily stood up beside Baldur's bed and seemed doing magic sayin' 'abracadabra.'

" Shh...your brother's sleeping now. Come..." Then he moved closer to the captain and yes, he got the pinching habit from his step dad. So the captain pinched his ear.

" I missed your ear and your jokes." The captain smiled.

" Ahhhhhh....dad....hey....that was awesome! haha! so tell me now. Where have you been?" Albrecht asked.

" It's a long story. But aid me first to the bathroom and boil me some water, I wanted to thoroughly tidy myself. Then feed me well son, I have to get back to my perfect shape." The captain smiled.

" Yeah, of course dad. See what I can do to make you even healthier." Then Albrecht carried him in the bathroom.

" This is to much but since I'm frail now, I'll take this lulabye for weeks. I need to gain some weight. But see - you looked like a giant now, you old boy!."

" Haha! here we go! I'll put you down first on this chair, I'll boil some water first. Don't worry dad, I can boil it right away." Albrecht assured.

When Albrecht was done, he then transfered the hot water to the bucket inside .

"Slowly dad, it's very hot. It's like George right now up there."

" Come!" and his dad pinched his ear again.

" Haha! I'm just kidding Dad, calm down." Then he carried his dad again inside the bathroom .

" Oh, I was still the one who placed all stones here. They looked too classic and as old as me. But this house has full of memories, I dearly loved your mother here and Sibal was kinda healed watching over us." The captain was murmuring while Albrecht was sadly listening at the kitchen table.

" Thank you dad, for raising us well. You're one of the best dads in the world. We loved you very much."

" It seems it's Father's Day around, haha! Hmm, I really missed the three of you. My Amazon girl has just married. You, Albrecht, Madeleine is I guess ready to marry you, is that so? and Baldur! Baldur's.....ah! Baldur is a saint! I don't even know if he's an angel for saving George, great heavens. But still, Baldur is Baldur, so God-fearing." He smiled inside.

Hey, Albrecht, please find me a circle rough stone by the river. Can you still remember a' 'logod' that locals called it here. Can you rub it on my back to remove dirts; I feel it really mossy."

" Yeah Dad." Then Albrecht ran outside and immediately found a 'logod.' He headed back to the bathroom and helped his dad.

" Albrecht, the death march was terrible. Both American and Filipino soldiers walked off and rushed to their deathbeds. A few had escaped, including me. I've heard few groups of markings have survived too in Luzon. But everything was terrible!"

" Dad...and so how did you escape?"

" Two soldiers were above me when I collapsed. Then they were shot dead and fell on top me. The Japs bayoneted them both but it did not go deeply on me at the bottom so everyone presumed I was dead. It was nighttime when I woke up and the soldiers marching were already kilometers away, so I tried to get up and removed them out of me. I was filled with blood and rolled by the cliff till I reached on a river. I followed that river and saw a ship at the end and on the shoreline, it was God's mercy to find the ship owned by a trader friend. Their ship was a carrier of some local Japs' supplies going Cebu before routing here. So when he saw me, he hid me right away under the ship's bottom and I was with the ship's tools and engine. There were a lot of Japs on board so he just once in a while dropped me some food and water on small containers. Later after a week, the Japs kept monitoring him so I hardly survived below. But over weeks we reached here and he provided me some ropes and when we were nearing the Kabang area, he released me on sea with a floating log. When I saw this mountain...I felt safe. Then he partially ended and finished his bathing as Albrecht cooked some boiled 'karlang' and corn.

Outright the Captain's bathing Albrecht served him the food mixed with grated coconut and sugar.

" Wow, I missed these 'duma' around. The captain said while closing his eyes and ate sparingly.

" Slowly dad, it's all for you. " Albrecht said.

" Albrecht, you get me some personal things in the tunnel. A week from now I had to face my men around."

" Dad, you might be furious if I tell you that only a few of your soldiers survived maybe it's good if I tell you that there are still a few alive and silently battling with the Japs." Then he bowed his head.

" Hmm....Albrecht, it's maybe lonesome to have missed fallen soldiers this much, but this is what war could give us. They were great soldiers." The words slowly faded as he looked outside the window.

" Dad, I'll lead you to the cemetery later when you're already fine. For now, I'll find ways to feed and extract more fruit juices for you."

" Yes Albrecht, extract me with fruit juices with the use of clean cotton cloth, I missed the juices."

" But you can only drink them when your tummy is full, okay?"

" Of course, son." Then the captain smiled at him.